Some of you might remember an old television show by Bill Cosby called “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” Cosby interviewed kids and they described things in very lively and many times funny ways.

It wasn’t so much to have fun at the child’s expense, but really a celebration of the innocence and beauty of a little child. So, I’m curious about some of the funny things that your children have written to you.

I’ll start off with something my little 6-year-old Sheyla from Peru wrote me:

“I didn’t know you taught math; I have a question: ‘Do you like ice cream?'”

Mwajuma Aged 6. We went to an animal park. In the park I saw a aeroplane in the sky. It was shiny and noisy. I liked it.

Mwajuma Aged 5. Me: What would you like to be when you grow up? Mwajuma: I want to be a fish. I’ve never seen a fish. Do you eat fish?

Mwajuma: Aged 12. Thank you for the pictures of Japanese food. Udon looks like tapeworms. You shouldn’t eat tapeworms.

Asin: Aged 13. I drew some cricket players for you but I also grew some flowers because you are a lady. Which do you like best: cricket or flowers? I think flowers are pretty but cricket is exciting so cricket is better. God thinks cricket is better too and He is good at cricket.
Geri

I’ll have to look through my letters when I go back home, but one I can remember off the top of my head was from the boy I sponsored in Burkina Faso (who was taken out of the project). He would always draw me a picture on his letters, and I told him in one letter that they were very nice pictures, and I wasn’t very good at drawing. In his next letter, he said, “Don’t worry, one day you will draw well for I will pray for you”

I just got a letter from one of my kids and Ivan wanted to thank me for sending pot and a card. My husband was reading it to me and i started laughing he wanted to know did i send the child a cooking pot? I said no i sent him stickers in a card. I love my letters they brighten my days.

I sent my little boy in Tanzania a picture of my cute little Jack Russel Terrier and he responded that he liked the picture and that the dog looked very vicious! My dog is many things, but intimidating he is not. I thought it was very cute and funny. Maybe to my child, he looked intimidating. I am sure the dogs there may not be as nice.

I’m sure something must have gotten lost in the translation, but in response to my question “Do you wear a uniform at school?” my 11-year-old Melissa in Peru wrote, “I wore a track suit when I went out to the pool.”

On a sponsor tour my sponsor child’s mother said, “I didn’t think you were coming, until the Compassion office called a few weeks ago.” I thought “I didn’t think I was going either but that is where faith in God steps in and does its dance 😉

On the Philippines Sponsor tour this past June I kept saying good morning or good afternoon and they have a term for noontime and they kept correcting me. It would be like saying “Good morning repeatedly when it is lunchtime. I thought that was kind of funny.

In his very first letter to me, Andre Lucas (age 7) stated that he wishes he could meet me so we could play. Micael, who is 6, wanted to know if I would like to come to Brazil. It was his first letter, too.
Adaglilson, who is 9, and Anderson, who is 8, said I look like President Obama. I think I look better than him. But some people would probably say he looks better than me. You know what? God made both of us beautiful.

Our 10 year old in Mexico said in her 3 letter to us “I’m short, chubby and kind of lazy” Then she said “I like basketball but do not have a ball” We got her a ball and we were sent her picture with it. She did not look chubby to us.

On the Philippines Sponsor Tour (June 2009) after the little fish ate the dead skin off the bottom of our feet at the acquarium and we ventured to the Mall of Asia in Manila. We were walking to the movie theatre and the whole mall was vacant. But as we were walking in, a young man close to my age (26) was sitting at some restaurant/cafe and one of the dad’s of the boys I sponsor kind of locked eyes with each other and from my perspective the young man “wilted” this dad wasn’t super intimidating but did have a dent on the side of his head that the project director told me came from when a neighbor went through the neighborhood in a “rage” and was hacking everybody and everything. What was so funny was the dad for some reason stared this guy down or maybe I was reading the situation wrong but that is what I remember and still laugh about it when I remember. The other thing which I hold very near and dear to my heart which many may not relate but some will is after we ate at Jollibee one of the boys I sponsor decided to go the bathroom on the sidewalk by the bus. The reason this is so near and dear to my heart is because growing up in Virginia Beach…nowhere near as tropical as the Philippines but green with Ocean nonetheless, my friends namely just me and Patrick Murphy would always go the bathroom in the bushes on the side of our houses. When my sponsor child did that I was instantaneously reminded of my own childhood if only for a brief moment 😉 So I do have some funny things…just not in letters…good thing I went on that sponsor tour otherwise I would be out of the conversation for funny/and or interesting things.

I love these. I got a few letters in today. And I liked this picture that Angela sent me. She drew a boat in Lake Titikaka and on the boat there is her and I and my little dog Corgi. This is the picture:

Also, on the photograph above, there is a special thing with it. It was taken by one of my Compassion children Shedenka, while she was sitting on my lap. She took it of the other Compassion child Jhoselin. Now, if you look carefully in Jhoselin’s eyes, you’ll see Shedenka sitting on my lap. You can see a larger version here:

I love getting letters from Nells, age 11, in Peru. She talked about going to the beach over Christmas break from school. She asked if my country (USA) has a beach, and whether it is hot here.

I just had to laugh about whether it is hot where I live, since we’re just coming out of the hottest part of the year in the Gulf Coast.

But it made for a topic of an entire letter–the similarities in climate (we both live near a coast), and the differences in seasons, since we’re in different hemispheres. And I was able to send photos of beaches, both of the Gulf, near where I live, and a northern Atlantic beach, to show the contrast.

When I wrote to Fred, our sponsored boy in Uganda, that we were also sponsoring a boy in Kenya, he wrote back with detailed instructions on how to take a bus from Kenya to where he lives in Uganda, just in case we ever visit our sponsored child in Kenya!

Hi! that’s a funny thing to read the truth is: sometimes as the children don’t know about the same animals than us, the translators approximate our animals to the animals they see in their environments. that’s why he asked you about the gazelles and wild dogs, but this is absolutely hilarious to me. Children are so funny and sweet! God bless you

My Gabriela lives in El Salvador and once stated, ” I want to tell you that at the Student Learning Center I have learned what you like to eat you in your country, for example, fast food.” HA! I laughed so hard and kidded saying to myself, “what are they teaching those kids over there!” That could just be the way we are viewed. I hope you smiled too.

I got a letter today that has a funny thing in it. As you might know I have a dog named Corgi. (He has his own website, see: http://www.aboutcorgi.com and as you can see on his website, he is also an advocate for children in need!) Anyways, this is what the letter said:

“I hope you are well, as well as your parents, Corgi and other people.”

I received a letter this week that I just thought was precious. Back in the Spring I had sent a booklet of butterflies from around the world to each of my kids. This week 7 year old Citlali wrote back by herself about her favorites and added:
“I hope to go where the butterflies live someday because I like them, one day a butterfly was on my head, I walked slowly so I do not move her and it was funny.”
I loved the spontaneity of this, and it was only her 2nd letter. I think the place where the butterflies live is a sanctuary in Mexico. I had written her about how Monarchs fly there in the fall from Michigan and then back in the Spring.

OK Kees – I just have to share this with everyone since you brought up funny stories. My wife and I are hopeful that this is a funny translation error rather than truth:

A child worker wrote on behalf of Nathaporn (6) of Thailand: Right here it is the time of the school holiday and there is a noise of cicada. Sometimes we feel be annoyed by a noise. Sometimes when entering near it, it will urinate. As to its urination, it is cool and fresh.

In some forests, the trees literally “rain” the urine of the cicadas, so I don’t think it’s a mistake in translation! There are forests in the US where it “rains” the poop of caterpillars during the night. I’m a biologist so I know these useless bits of information… But I’m sure that the cicada urine IS cooling! haha.

THESE ARE GREAT! I don’t have any that funny , yet I did just receive a letter from a correspondence child in Indonesia that made me chuckle. Vano’s “brother” wrote: “Vano was so happy receiving the gift, especially looking at your photo, he was laugh and jumping. Do you mind if he calls you with brother?” Now my hair is a tad on the short side yet I am most definitely a young woman. Is “brother” used for either gender there? Is Vano’s “brother” what I would consider a “brother”? Did he actually get MY photo? Hmmm…

Hi, I don’t know Indonesian, but I sponsor a child together with Hunter Gomez in Indonesia. Well, the child, (she is 19 years old now) has seen several of our pictures. Somehow, when referring to me, she refers to me as a female. I have come to the conclusion that the Indonesian language doesn’t probably have a different word for “he” or “she.” That makes me wonder if it is the translator that didn’t know the difference and picked one.

I too sponsor a child in Indonesia and have noticed the inconsistency in gender pronouns. I would guess that it is not a part of the Indonesian languages. I even have some letters (written by a project worker) that use both “he” and “she”.

On a separate note I have also been called “Dear Uncle” by one of my Indian children, and I don’t even have short hair!

One thing that I have yet to figure out was from Kevin age 11, from Ecuador. He asks “Do you like to treat with special people?” I know a little Spanish but I was still not able to figure out what he meant. Any ideas?

I asked a friend from Mexico what that might mean. She studied English for years and works as a translator and also teaches English in Mexico now. Her native language is Mexican Spanish. She’s not from Ecuador, so it might be slightly different. But this is what she said. You determine if it makes sense according to what you shared with him.

I think what the child really means is this:

Would you mind/like dealing with disabled people with special abilities?

If somebody had asked me that question, that is what I would have thought or understood… unless he calls himself “special” because of his poor/humble status… but I do believe he meant “disabled with special abilities..

The word here in the sentence doesn´t mean treat…it means ´to deal with´or something along those lines. Like you could say I don´t like dealing with angry people, that type of thing. so the kid was saying do you like to deal with special people? but not special needs…they don´t really use that term….they still call them handicapped. I´m not sure why he would ask that, but my husband (who’s Mexican) confirmed what I am saying.

So combining the two different people offering translation, it could be he was saying, “Do you like to deal with poor people?” Hope this helps further. That would be my take on it.

Eelix age 11, Peru – Mothers day is about to arrive… I send you a huge kiss for your day. (My only kids are Compassion kids)

Scarleth age 7, Honduras – (Form Letter) The thing I like most about me:– my hair because it is curly

Zacarias age 14, Dominican Republic – I like riding horses and bikes. I move my cows and horses. (I am not sure how you move cows and horses. The Spanish was actually singular –“I move my cow and horse”)

Danstun age 13, Uganda – The part about the clouds turning bright orange in your letter has really amazed me because even this way one day something like that happened too. (I had written to him about the beautiful sunsets)

Hm… I can only think of one really funny thing my Compassion kids have said to me: I think this was the second letter I received from my sponsored child Jasmin in the Dominican Republic; (who had just turned 6 at the time) it was in response to a letter I had sent introducing myself, and I had told her I was 15, and about my nieces and nephews. In her letter she asked, “do you have any son?”

This one isn’t all that funny, but it was so sweet, in my most recent letter from Jasmin, (who is now 7, it’s the first letter she’s written on her own) she said, “I ask you to pray for our friendship that it will be forever.” so sweet.

I’m Peter Muchiri, aged 20 a sponsored child at Compassion International Kenya and in the LDP. This is so pleasant; it just reminds me of my letters to my sponsor when I was a kid, they qualify to compile a Holywood comic script.
Tammy Marshall is my sponsor, I really love and appreciate her and her family.

My sweet Mampi has begun every letter for years with “At first you take my heart” – every translator has translated that exact term. My husband and I want to make a Compassion tshirt with that on the front.

My sweet Jobina is so humble and sweet. She always asks me “please pray that i am smart and will do well and advance in school because I am not smart” yet I get the fun letters everytime she moves on to the next level. She is bright and her letters always make me smile.

There are always funny inserts in the middle of letters. Seemingly random thoughts that remind me that my sweet Compassion kids are like my kids – short attention spans! Like a letter I received today where in the middle of telling me about an Independence Day celebration at my child’s school, she inserted “my pets are fine.”

I love these kids! And love Compassion. Thank you for letting us do this.

My sponsor child, Neema, from Tanzania wrote to me once, “I will pray for the swelling in your stomach.” I don’t know if she was praying that I would get pregnant or what. She might assume that I want to have kids and can’t or something… It seemed to be in response to something I had asked her to pray about but I really don’t know WHAT! Anyway, I think it’s just one of those ‘lost in translation’ kinds of things.

I have received 3 letters from Caroline in Uganda (9 yrs old) in the past 6 weeks. This kiddo loves to write! She writes mostly in English but occasionally in her native language. Her letters have shown me that she is super spunky

In one of the letters she talked about her best friend Robinah and how they like to play dodgeball together. Robinah was mentioned about 5 times in this form letter and the final thing was that she asked that I would pray that she gets to play outside with Robinah. Too cute!

Another funny thing is that she always draws me little pictures all over her letters. In a recent letter, you could tell she must have fussed at the translator because squeezed in the translation space is a list of EVERYTHING she drew, including a grandmother with a walking stick.

And finally (laughed until I cried with this one), her dream is to become a nurse and travel to London to see the white people. (this was written in English, so not a translation error!) Too funny!

I thank God for the good work that Compassion has been doing to the needy child. More thankful to compassionate children of God who have taken away shame and burden of the needy child by sponsoring them as their own. Joyce my sister and David my nephew are now at University!! thanks compassion and LDP. May God bless all that have used their resources to brighten the future of the needy child in the Diaspora.
God bless you all.

When I wrote my first letter to our child, Winifrida, in Tanzania, I told her that we have three cats. She wrote back “Why would you want cats?” I’m sure that the cats in her neighborhood are not the cuddly and cute kind. So I sent pictures of us holding our cats, and explained to her that in some parts of the world there are small cats that are tame, and that they are called “house cats”, “barn cats”, or sometimes “alley cats”, and that some people keep them because they kill mice. She wrote back that she is very interested in a cat called a “Tigger”.
Rice seems to be a real treat for her. When I send birthday money she always buys a bag of rice. On Christmas and Easter she always mentions “We ate rice” She asked me what we ate for Christmas dinner, and I was able to truthfully answer that we had eaten rice, too. I went to visit my brother and in their small town the only restaurant that was open on Christman was the oriental restaurant.
When she receives her birthay present I am touched by what she buys. Once she bought a bedsheet, a bottle of orange soda pop, and a bowl for serving rice, and well as a nice dress and a pair of shoes, and of course, a bag of rice.
She always refers to the crops that are grown in her area, and wants to know if we have harvested yet. I try to watch the fields around us and tell her what the farmers are doing. I’m sure she doesn’t understand that our seasons are reversed.
Wini keeps me humble because she always prays for my husband, who is ill. She really touches my heart.

I went back and read some old letters, and I found another quote! What most American parents wouldn’t give to hear their kid say this – from Virginia, my family’s sponsored child in Bolivia, shortly before her 10th birthday:
“I love to go to school because I love to do homework and share with my friends.”

Aww, I laughed so hard while reading all of these comments! So cute! I can’t really think of any funny comments from my kids, but the mother of one of my sponsored girls writes to me and upon learning that I live in NY state, she asked me if I had been affected by the September 11th “bombings”! I thought that was so sweet of her!

I live in NY, too! I am trying to find sponsors in my area. Are you on Compassion International Fancorps Community? If not, please join. I would really like to find out more about sponsors in my area (western NY) and I am 13, so I cannot be on OurCompassion. Oh! on Fancorps I am Lizzzie195.

After conducting a workshop for youth in foster care, one young girl wrote me a note, “I learned today that not all men hit their ladies.” It’s not funny, but meant a lot to me. We need to be serious about teaching children that their future does not have to be based on their past.

I sponsor a 9 y/o boy named James in Uganda. I had sent a family gift and they bought a young cow. In his letter he asked me if I kept cows at my house. I had been sponsoring him for about a year and had told him I lived in a town. Wouldn’t my neighbors be excited if I kept cows at my house?!

Isn’t it amazing how different their lives are from ours, yet how similar we really are. Most of the differences are based on developing vs developed countries.

Anyway, I felt kind of ashamed when my sponsor child asked me what crops I’d planted. I thought, “Wow, I don’t even grow my own food- what’s wrong with me?” But, I did tell him how making tortillas reminds me of him.

My child also begins all of his letters very formally with the words, “I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” It struck me as funny because it seemed pretty stiff for a twelve-year-old. Now, it’s just endearing.

Two of my children begin also their letters greeting me in Jesus name. It is dear to get such letters and then I thought, that well, why wouldn´t I do the same, because I mean it anyway from all of my heart. So now I begin letters to my every child ” I greet you in the precious name of Jesus” and I enjoy when writing so.

Milagros (14) lives in a slum outside Lima, Peru. In 2008 her mother died of cancer; her father is living somewhere near but not with them; she lives with her 3 sisters, two of whom are in their late teens. The girls are living with their uncle’s family – possibly in an improvised room. Milagros assured me she was living in a “safe place” with a “roof made of straw.” The next thing she wrote was, “Do you have thunder there?”

My little girl Clemence in Kenya (7 years old) wrote in her first letter that her favorite subject in school was writing capital letters. I thought that was so cute of her. I wrote back, “I LIKE TO WRITE IN CAPITAL LETTERS TOO!”

One of the boys my son sponsored named Amando who just graduated from college in the Philippines was telling about going to the beach and asked if we get to go to the beach often, we wrote back and told him that no we don’t go to the beach often as we live in Kansas and the beaches are about 1500 miles away from where we live.

I just heard of a funny thing that a 5 year old Compassion child said on an assessment test. The question was: “What do you want to become when you grow up?” Her answer was: “I want to be a teacher because I want to be able to wear heels.” I thought that was funny!

It is so wonderful to read all of your comments. I have been sponsoring a child in India for the past 4 years or so but I have not been good about writing him and his letters to me about every quarter are very formal and basic (but he also draws pictures for me). Reading these has really encouraged me to try to further develop our relationship. Thank you to all.

Leah – I sponsor a child in India also and his letters always seemed very formal, about the weather, foods, etc. But one time I shared about my fear of public speaking and how I was trying to overcome it and he wrote back the cutest thing about how he had the same fear and said “but my mom told me to just remember that I have Jesus in my heart and then I won’t be afraid” It melted my heart and since then I’ve realized how excited and personal the letters from him seem if I’ve told him some real things going on in my life and sent pictures! It’s night and day!

One of my boys from Africa had purchased a pig with christmas $ we had sent last year and always tells us how precious and fun his pig is and how much he loves it. In a recent letter I opened his letter to read it to our church kids and it said ” Do you eat pork? My pig is getting fat!” all the kids were gasping and going oh no…but then later in the letter it said “my pig is about to have piglets” We were all laughing so hard! It was great!

today, my family and i sponsored a child in Honduras. Her name is Yosselin, and she iS ADORABLE! My sister just finished writing the first letter, and we will send it soon. I’m so excited because we have been wanting to do this for a long time! we can’t wait for Yosselin to send a letter back to us!

I wrote around Memorial Day about the picnic that my family and I had and all the fruit that we h ad to eat which included canteloupe, pineapple, and watermelon. My correspondence child in Tanzania wrote back and told me that they had those fruits in Bagamoyo and that I should come visit and eat those fruits with him and that I would like it.

I thought that was so sweet. I wrote back and told him that I’d love to come visit but right now, I have to focus on going to school.

This is such a great idea! I was entertained for hours!:-) Our children are so precious. I have had my son, Premkumar, since he was 8 years and this month he will be 21! About 3 years ago my husband and I went on an India tour to see both our children. Ever since then, it is amazing how quickly his English progressed. For the past year, at least, he has been writing his own letters. They are so cute and funny and really portray his personality. Prem =love, and kumar=son in Indian. Truly he is a love of a son! He told me in his letter,”As you asked me, I did well in my drawing, but what happened you know! I decided to draw the picture of a Tiger, rather than it become a cat. Anyway it was nice but I did not get any prize.” I commented in a subsequent letter that his story made me laugh. He replied,”My drawing mad you laugh I can’t believe it.” Actually, once he began writing his own letters, his sense of humor always makes me laugh!

This is not funny at all, but I think that God has a reason for everything, and I hope that He used my letter to encourage my correspondent LDP student.

My Grandma died, and 3 days later, I wrote a letter to my correspondent student to let her know. I wrote that my grandma died, but that God works for our best, even when we do not understand why things happen. I included some Bible verses in my letter.

Well, just the other day, I received a letter from my correspondent student. She said that her grandma died, and she received my letter 3 days afterwards.

i have met my sponsored boys in the dominican republic, so we are not ‘strangers’. we ask each other specific prayer requests, my last one got lost in translation when i asked for prayer for my back. (i had back surgery for 3 broken vertabrae.) my one boy wrote back and asked if my bike was better!

I sponsor a 9 year old girl from Tanzania, her name is Monica. I sent her some post cards with some of the animals that are found in my area, one with an armadillo on it and one with a black bear on it. I thought she would like them cause she’s always drawing me pictures of animals. I got a letter from her a couple months later about how the photos of the animals were terrifying and that she was worried about me. It probably shouldn’t be that funny but my mom and I thought it was hilarious! Needless to say I wrote her back telling here that I was ok and that she didn’t need to worry :), I love my precious girl!!!

I have been sponsoring Nadine (now 11) for the past 3 years, and her letters are a treasure!

Age 8: she wrote that she “was surprised to learn that you aren’t yet married yet you have such a passion for children.” In the same letter, she also mentioned that her family lives near a lake and catch fish (different types)… or that was the translation, anyway– it was clear that in her version she actually listed out a half dozen or more different fish! I don’t blame the translator for not trying to figure out fish names in English.

In a later letter she shared that “she has been fine, she has 2 goats and 4 chickens, she has been sick.” Love the 9 year old stream-of-consciousness!

The first time she appeared to write her own letter, the poor translator got lost at one point and just inserted “cannot read child’s writing.”

In the last year or so she has been talking more about how she would like to see me in person, and in this past fall invited me to her brother’s wedding (she included the specific date– though by the time I got the letter, that had passed anyway!) What a sweet girl.

I sponsor Anjichi who lives in Kenya. In the first letter I had written him, I told him that I homeschooled my two boys. He wrote back that “in Kenya there is no homeschool and he can’t imagine what it is and how it ends.”

My thought was that he may have believed that homeschooling may never end.

My child in Tanzania sends beautiful artwork, but the most touching thing happened when I fell and broke my hip. She wrote me that she and her whole family were praying for me. It was very touching to think a family on the other side of the world was praying for me.

My favorite precious thing that our little 7 year old guy from Burkina Faso said was simply to ask if we would pray that he would be wise and understand the Lord. It makes me tear up even now. What a precious child. He has so little, and yet that is all he asks for.

I am 11 years old, and I told that to my sponsored child, who is also 11, in Ethiopia. In his first letter he asked me if I had any children and that he would pray for “our relationship,” any ideas on what that means? I wrote back “No, I’m only eleven, like you” In his second later he wrote “Are you married? Are you student or did you finish it?” I wrote back, “No, I am not married, I’m eleven like you and I am still in school.”

I just read your comment Susan, I thought that was very touching. The child I sponsor wrote that he prayed for me as well. I started praying double hard for him then, to think that we as very fortunate people are being prayed for by those who have hardly anything.

Madi, it may be that your student in ethiopia doubts that his translation is correct. Imagine how unbelievable it might seem to him that a “child” his own age can afford to put him through school, and help provide for him (something his own parents struggle with). Where he is from, he probably rarely handles more than a few cents at a time, if that, and the idea that someone his age, still in school could pay possibly 4 times more than his parents might make in a month, may take a while for him to comprehend. If your parents help you afford the sponsorship, you might try explaining that to him. As for “your relationship” I don’t think he meant that in a flirtatious manner, but simply as friends. My sponsored kids have said much of the same thing to me about our “relationship”. The word relationship really only carries a flirtatious connotation in the US and maybe Canada and the UK…other places it would be considered a platonic word.

Madi, how long after you sent your first letter did he write the second letter? Sometimes they repeat the question because they haven’t received our answer yet. In any case, hopefully he will now understand that you are not married!

Our child, Dushimimana in Rawanda, told us about her goat she bought with one of our financial gifts – she then asked “what kind of animals do you rear?” – we live in metropolitan Dallas area – the only animals we have are 2 annoying terrier dogs.

It’s difficult for me to choose just 1! My girl is so sweet, her name’s Atupakisye, from Tanzania. In one from ’07, she said, “I shall continue to pray for you with your duties together with your yellow people.” Not sure what that was in response to!

“I pray for you in your construction studies” (I was an interior design major at the time)

In one of her first letters she said, “My mother sends you much greetings and she says welcome to Tanzania!” So generous!

In all seriousness, the darling always asks for prayer over her studies in schools, and ends every letter with something like, “It’s me, Atupakisye, who loves you” or “Goodbye my dear beloved.”

I sponsor a beautiful little girl in Burkina Faso named Yabyoure. In one of her letters she was describing her parents. “my mother and father are very old but they are still strong.” I saw a photo of them and they are at least 25 years younger than I am and her mother quite beautiful! It must be fun for the workers who help the children write their letters and also the translators.

My little Lesli does not yet write on her own, and her letters always come in someone else’s voice. I can’t wait until she starts school and learns to write for herself. I look forward to the funny things she will have to tell me!

My family and I sponser a 13 year old from Kenya. It’s great to hear her and her family both really love God. They are very involved in their church and she loves school. I don’t think I’ve heard anything else about her in every other letter except she loves God and she has many Goats and chickens. I’m running out of ideas on what to talk to her about! I just talked to her about games we play. I told her about my 3 cats, dog, and turtle and asked her if she’s heard of volleyball or hide-and-go-seek and that we play that a lot here. I told her all about the animals we have here since now we live in a new state, but there isn’t much more you can say about having pretty much only rabbits and coyotes. I sent the letter by email this time so wasn’t able to send her a printout coloring page or bookmark, but when I do I’ll surely send her two or three coloring pages and a baseball card or two.

I sponsor a little girl in Mexico named Claudia. In her last letter, she invited me to come visit 5 times! She said, “I love you. Please come visit. It snowed here. I invite you to come visit. I like my classes. Please come see me. It’s pretty here now. I invite you…”

It was so precious!!! I hope that one day I can go visit her. I love her soooo much!

One of my first letters from Maria in Ecuador had a funny mistranslation in it “do you predicate in the streets?” A quick look in the Spanish-English dictionary told me that “predicate” should be “preach”, but I found the original translation priceless!

That same day, I got a letter from Sebastiano, who has 4 siblings. He listed two, then wrote “and others”, which I found hilarious (particularly as he had written to me about all of them in his first letter). Do you think he has favourites?

This from 12 year old Kryzl in the Philippines. I asked about her home. This she wrote in English.

“with regards to our home, we don’t have any room at home. The second floor of our house serves as our sleeping area where we all sleep together (there are 4 children at home with her mother). The lower part serves as our kitchen and living room where we accept our visitors. Our home doesn’t have a strong foundation since the walls are made of woods and its just the floor in the lower ground that is made of cement. Some part of our home are not that well-off especially on the second floor. Everytime you step on the floor, you might have the tendency to fall. Whenever it rains our roof leaks. We are living in the house given to us by our uncle, years after my father’ demise and we weren’t able to reconstruct it yet. But then, inspite of our homes situation we never felt hopeless because God is our storng Foundation. We often see to it that we maintain cleanliness and arrange everything. We don’t have any problem with regards to arrangement of our home since we do not have any appliance to arrange.

I had a similar situation with my girl in Brazil. They had a ramshackle mess of tarps and pieces of wood for a “home” and there were 6 girls in an area largely controlled by gangs, and lived in fear for their security. I worked with Compassion to arrange to pay for a cement home of 2 rooms to be built, with a strong, lockable door. It only cost $300.00 which I gave as a “special gift”. From then on, they lived in this secure, clean home. You might consider doing something like that!

We sponsor a beautiful young man in Haiti and a few years ago we sent him a picture of our daughter hold our two pet bunnies. In his next letter to us, Jupiter commented that he was praying for our bunnies to have lots and lots of babies. Funny – I was praying that they didn’t!

Oh, man. These are great stories. I will have to look through letters from my boy Sipitiek in Kenya for something funny. But he always ends his letters by saying that he is praying for me and my family. How humbling is that?

Here’s another one, this was from a boy in Indonesia who was finishing Compassion’s program and writing to his sponsor for the last time. I wasn’t his sponsor but had the privilege of reading his 3-4 page letter. He said “Do you know the movie, “Evan Almighty”? I want to be like Evan Baxter in a movie called, “Evan Almighty”.

9 year old Kanta from Bangladesh writes “I never have celebrated Christmas ago. I will celebrate Christmas for the first time this year. I heard from my teachers that Christmas means the birthday of Jesus Christ. Please pray for me that I may celebrate Christmas well”

Aditya in India age 11 wrote to me and was very excited he said “I went in a motor vehicle today, We went to a park. Have you ever been to a park? there are bars called monkey bars but you can go on them even if you are not a monkey.”

My “daughter” in Ghana said one thing that I treasure: “You always make me lovely with smiles on my face.”
And once when I was telling her about my son going on a 50 mile hike with his Boy Scout troop she wrote back and asked, “What is hiking?”

My 18-year old boy, Jose, from Bolivia ends his letters with “I say goodbye with a strong hug.” A recent letter included the following “I thank you for the present you sent me. I wanted to tell you about the present that you sent me. I’m keeping it in a savings account. Well, you may want to ask me: why in a bank account and why didn’t I buy something. Well, this is because when I grow up older I want to buy a car and a house, this way I won’t have a hard time paying for them.” Wise beyond his years…

I was blessed to be able to meet my 18 year-old girl, Belina, in Kenya. She has such a heart for the Lord and her letters are serious and heartfelt. She made a couple comments while I was there that were so precious. Belina was wearing a broken watch and the watch face was filled with dirt, but I could tell she treasured it. After tapping her watch with her finger and shaking her head, she said, “My watch is refusing to function.” I included mechanical pencils in the school supply bag I brought her, and after showing her how to load the lead and increase/decrease the lead size she exclaimed “Oh! Very smart pen!” I will continue to carry many memories and inspiring and heart wrenching stories from that trip.

A cute, but so rewarding quote from Neema, then a 9 year old girl from Kenya, in her first letter to us – her sponsors. She wrote, that she was so happy to get a sponsor and she decided that first, she would tell her mother, then she would tell God and after that she would go ahead and tell the rest of her friends and family. 😉

My Rashidi from Rwanda, age 12, wrote to me that he hopes to raise a bunch of livestock, including cats. It makes me smile to see the innocence that comes with being a child. And I have 2 cats myself so this is TOO funny!

My little, girl, Rina from Rangpur, Bangladesh writes, “I love you so much. Do you love me? Can I call you mother? I want to be your little girl.” And in her birthday letter, “Thank you so much for the birthday gift. I was able to buy a goat, clothes and some items for cleaning. That is my job now that I am 8 years old!”
I showed my nephews that last letter! They were a little humbled.

14 year old Marisol from Guatemala writes… I tell you that I got good school marks, I only failed a subject…….Carol is fine but she no longer is my friend…….I am not seeking an album yet ( I asked about her photo album) I not longer have it, it escaped from my house.

Goodness, where to start. This great blog just goes to show that kids are kids regardless where we call home.

Couple recent messages come to mind…
1. Deborha (teenager from Peru) said, ” When you become married I would like you to name your child Jeson.” This comment was totally out of the blue and not within any context that I had spoken about other than my marriage status I suppose, but in a follow up letter I sure thanked her for her thoughts.
2. James (Tanzania): Being one of those countries where the children can write in response to any letter they receive, James shared his usual greetings, then closed his letter saying, “I don’t have much today.” Made me chuckle and then I imagined him going out to play with his friends.

One boy from Peru I have sponsored for over 5 years. Looking back at his letters, it warms my heart the way he always signs them:
Bye with many kisses and hugs,
I say goodbye with many kisses and hugs,
I say goodbye with a kiss,
I say goodbye with warm hugs and kisses,
I thank you for loving me,
I say goodbye with strong hug and lots of kisses,
I will continue to pray for you, my sponsor,
Until soon, . . .

I just got a letter today from 11-year-old Henri in the Philippines. He wrote about his vacation: “When I came back in our house they [his family and relatives] said that why are you fat now? I said because I ate much of vegetables. Do you have plants?”
I completely lost it! He’s so precocious!

After telling her that our family lived on an island, she replied saying, “It is very beautiful to live on one island.” Another time, I mentioned that we live in the mountains (she does as well) and she replied, “I feel curiosity to know what you feel to live in that mountain.”

After telling her about the sports we played, she replied, “It must be very amusing to play basket.” (she meant basketball). It was very apparent from the context that she didn’t really know what it was but was saying that to be polite.

“I tell you that I got very good grades, and thank God I am getting a vacation next week.”

Gisela asked about our health and I mentioned that my dad had broken his knee cap. In her next letter she asked, “Did your father get better from his feet?”

“I am not a very good cook. I know how to make rice, fried egg, French fries, and how to boil the water.”

My correspondent child Luis Miguel (14) in DR, wrote to me that he had a “girlfriend” but not anymore because they broke up, and I should not be worried because he would let me know when he has another one… this was very funny and curious to me I felt like a real mother.

Nissi, Age 9 from the Dominican Republic says: “I felt sad when my doggie died. One of the funniest moments I have had in my life was when my brother had pee in the bed and I laughed a lot. If I was an animal, I would like to be a butterflly.” She’s a precious little girl who always includes a beautiful drawing with every letter. We are very blessed to be her sponsors!

There are too many! A few from Ericelda in Guatemala, who I sponsored for 12 years. When she was 10, “I want to tell you that you are a second father to me, and I send loving hugs to your family.” The same year, she told me, “This year I want to be the standard bearer.” In another, “I want you to feel proud of me. If you go anyplace, God will guide you. I send you a kiss and a hug.” At age 13, “My youngest sister will repeat Kinder as she is too young for primary. She is a naughty girl and my other sister is more quiet.” In 2004, when she turned 18, “We had a special dinner for my 18 years and now I have the majority of age and I am an independent person to the society, but i don’t feel old and I continue to be a child and need the care of my parents.” The same year, “I have so many things to tell you, and the sheets (of paper) would not be enough.

10 year old Aleena from India said a few funny things in her last letter. She told me her mom was pregnant, but there was a problem. Her brother was praying for a brother and she was praying for a sister. She also told me she suffered from lazyness in the morning because it was cold.

After I wrote my little boy in Bangladesh and told him that my Dad was sick, he wrote back and said that he would pray for my Dad’s blood infection even though he was 75 years old. I just wrote him recently to tell him that I will be teaching a Purity Class to teen girls. He wrote back and said he was glad I was teaching the girls about cleanness. They learn about cleanness in their project, too!

I’ve just recieved my first letter from my child, Phillip, in Kenya. I had to hold back tears because I was so happy. His only prayer requests was for his parents to find good jobs, such a good child. He just turned 8 in July.

I have sponsored an 8-year-old girl from India for barely a year now, and I love to see what she has to say. The Compassion workers write for her because she is just learning to write, but the things that she says through them touches my heart, and occasionally bring a touch of humor and a smile.
One letter informed me that my sponsor child “is keeping a pet lamb at home”, that “she prays that I remain good”, and that she was “sending me kisses”. One was even signed “your daughter”.
My goal in being a sponsor is to bring the love of Jesus and joy into my sponsor-child’s life–I never knew that she would end up doing the same for me.

My little Lorna in Uganda once wrote to me… “My mother just had twin babies. They are very noisy, so I have to plug both of my ears with my fingers so I can sleep. That’s one ear for each baby. My fingers sure are tired! When will it end?”

For almost 4 years now I’ve made a habit of calling Gabriela (now 7 years old from El Slavador) by a different pet name on each and every letter. Examples are: Hello Princess, Butterfly, Sunshine, Kitten, Hummingbird, Tiger, Snowflake, Puppy-breath etc. But one special time early on I called her “My sweet angel face” and that’s the one….that’s the one that stuck with her. Since then she signs off on many of her letters, “With Love, your angel’s face, Gabriela”.

Six-year-old Dexi from Mexico recently wrote:
“I would like to be able to visit you, but I know that it is too far. But I still want to tell you that I love you very much, and I always keep you in my prayers. I have some pet rabbits and they are white, and so tiny that they look like little stuffed animals. I would like to give you one of my rabbits, but I know that I cannot.”

Our little 6-yr old boy in Honduras asked me if I was married, and I said I am engaged to so-and-so and we’re getting married on this date. He said to wait, he had 2 cousins who were in middle school and I could pick whichever I liked best.

He also keeps telling me how he hasn;t scored any goals on his soccer team but it isn’t because he isn’t the best player

My girl, Julieta in Colombia, who will be 11 on September 14, 2010, started a recent letter with, “Greetings, kisses and hugs. I love you and am grateful for your unconditional support,” and ended the letter with “I am so happy to be your princess. Love you, your princess.”

11 year old girl in Mexico said, ” Here, the weather is hot and we would like to be in cooler places, but when it is cold we want to be in warmer places. I know God created the weather too and we don’t have to complain. God does everyting perfect.” not so much funny but so true and so cute.

In my first letter, my 9-year old boy, Ronald, from El Salvador asked me how old I am. I guess he doesn’t know that a woman (especially my age) doesn’t like to be asked her age. I know he is not trying to be rude, just curious. I especially got over it when he closed his letter with these words, “I love you very much no matter I don’t know you.”

I am getting to know my newest sponsor child 9-year-old Stefany. I am delighted by the way her personality shows through in her letters, like how she writes every capital letter with a flourish and in red pencil. I was especially tickled when she told me in one of her letters, “I like to talk a lot.”

Our dear girl, Brenda, when I wrote and told her that our son and daughter-in-law are expecting a baby soon, replied that I should tell them if they “produce a baby girl to name her Brenda, because it is a a good and well sounding name.”

Shortly after sponsoring my girl in Bolivia, I was told that her family had named their new baby after me. However, I’m pretty sure that baby is a boy, not a girl! Carrie is spelled differently in every letter I’ve received from her since.

Msafiri, our orphaned boy in Tanzania, who lives sometimes with his grandmother and sometimes with his uncle, wrote recently, “I am doing healthy well with my family. My grandmother is doing healthy well, my uncle is doing healthy well.” I like that phrase! Maybe we should begin telling people that we are “healthy well” when they ask how we are!

My 5-year-old little boy in Togo sent me, “I have drawn you pictures at the back of the paper and I don’t know if you will like. I like drawing but I am not so good at drawing.” So precious. (I made sure to tell him that I *did* like them very much.) And I asked him if he knew how to play Duck Duck Goose, and he replied, “I don’t know the ‘Duck Duck Goose.’ Could you teach me?”

My 7 year old little boy, Moises, from Nicaragua said to me ”I am so happy because I will have a vacation soon and I will have more time to watch Television and play.” He also signs his letters “Love, kisses and hugs.” He is too adorable =)

The angel that I sponsor said at her birthday last year that she would have cake for her birthday if the Lord was willing. Of course freeze tag in the park is high on the list also. I did find out later that the Lord was willing about the cake.

I think I had heard somewhere (maybe in some of Mr Wess’ writing) that while in the US we say we are doing “fine”, or “good,” in Haiti a comon response to “how are you” translates to “not bad.” But it is funny how it came across

I got a letter from one of my correspondence children in Brazil, he’s 12, he says, “I like to climb my house’s roof to fly kites but my grandma doesn’t let me do that.”
He also says “Please keep praying for me that I’ll keep prayer for you.”

This really sounds real. I once took children out and one boy was hurt while escaping dogs he was stoning. A night after the third day of our travel i heard a child crying. When i talked to him he told me that he was hit by the train we had travelled in 3 days ago.

Not sure about funny comments in letters, however I have one child, Axel, who starts his letters with “mama misty” I don’t have children and never thought I’d “hear” mama. I nearly cried! And recently in Columbia, I met Jose, and he asked if he could come home with me! I so very much wanted to say yes, but I had to explain that Columbia probably wouldn’t let me.

Oh, that is the sweetest thing. I have honestly at times wished I could take my sponsor children home with me. I know that would not be possible (and they are happily with their parents), but they are so lovable.

I live in a condo with a beautiful pond surrounded by willow trees, in Minnesota. The pond is a great place for wildlife. I enjoy taking pictures of the Canadian Geese that live here from March to October. I sent some of the pictures of them to my little Rina and she asked me, “Do you raise the geese to sell or for food?” God bless them all.

I teach Religious Education to 5th Graders, who are very spoiled! I share with them things that my girls say. The last time they had birthdays they shared with me what they got……..Rina bought a goat ‘so that her family can have fresh milk’ and Mary got something she never never had, but wished and prayed for, “a mattress.”
That silenced them for about 30 seconds. But, then one of the 5th graders asked if they could pray for them. God bless the little ones!!

You know, I was just reading his letter over again, (I have a hard time reading the hand writing) he really said that he is surpised that we DO feed our cats olives. I had told him that my mother once had a cat that ate them.
But one time he did say that he likes to ride in “Cradle and slipper” which he later told us is a slide and swing

I just received a letter from my child, Chatchai, from Thailand. He was telling me (through a project worker since he is only 5) that he learns about the story of Jesus and knows that Jesus is Lord. He asked me to pray for him in the new year to be a good boy to his parents – adding that when Jesus was a boy… He wasn’t stubborn. Too cute and so precious all at the same time!

child i sponsor wrote to me about how they just received a goat from compassion… this is what she wrote (although I reckon the translator had more to do with it) “In my home, my goat gave birth to 2 lamps. One male lamp and one female lamp”

I sent my children a packet about dinosaurs, with some flashcards, stickers, and a letter with a paragraph that just briefly explained dinosaurs. Something was obviously lost in translation since my little girl, Mafille, wrote back, “You have very scary pets, in Togo we only have cats and dogs”! Bless her heart, I could just imagine her thinking we have t-rex walking around and pterodactyls flying overhead!

Each time I get a letter from my sponsored child in Kenya, it is pretty much the same. He asks how I am and says he is fine and thanks me for sponsoring him. Occasionally he will include pictures he has drawn. I answer his letter and ask him questions and tell him a little about my days (without talking about things he doesn’t have) but the next letter is the same. Should I be worried that something is amiss?

re: Julia Weeks. Compassion will ask that you be patient and try to resubmit your questions but next time with strong emphasize on the questions you’d like answered. Ask them again and underline each one, then use a highlighter, this should solve the problem, if not, simply notify Compassion and they’ll be happy to look into it for you. Please be patient, it can sometimes take multiple weeks or even months for Compassion to resolve it as well. But also remember this, your sponsored letter means so much to your child that they take it home to secure it. It could be your child forget to take your letter with them on Letter Writing day and simply didn’t remember your questions to respond to. Without the letter present the translator has no clue what you had asked and then the lesson for the day might be to structure a letter eg, introduction, body and conclusion. There’s usually an extremely valid reason why your questions weren’t answered at first. Resubmit them to your child with emphasis that it’s important to you to know more about them so you can pray more accurately for their needs, AND ALSO underline and hightlight them so the incoming translator notify’s the project you’ve been waiting for your child to answer them. You can always e-mail me at AllkidsRock@aol.com and we could talk on the phone if you’d like. Have a blessed day in Christ!! Glenn

Julia, how old is your child? If your child is younger, or even has a tutor writing him, then the letters are generally pretty generic. Younger children have a harder time writing letters than older ones do, just like any child. Also, it’s important to remember that these children are not accustomed to writing letters, and we need to remember to be patient. Also, Kenya is generally non-reciprocal, so you may not be getting answers to all of your questions because he only writes 4-5 times a year. Hope this helps!

Dear Leah, Your situation sounds like mine. I have an Indian boy who is 9 now. I just wonder what little gifts I can send as the restrictions are so strict. He doesn’t answer my questions so that makes it hard also. He likes yellow so I cut out a cross from some pretty paper once and sent that. I haven’ sent stickers but maybe I’ll try that. I wrote to him that our son died and he never commented on that either. I have sent pictures of us too.

It’s hard (very hard) but be patient. Also remember that even here many kids don’t write letters well. My Mom had to practically sit on my brothers and I to write to our grandparents and all we would do is add a line to a card. Fortunately my letter writing has improved since then… I’m not too sure about my brothers lol.

You might also emphasis how much you want to get to know your child. Many of these children are bewildered that an adult would want to know them. Also sometimes it helps to tie your question to your letter. I try to ask questions that are on the topic of my letter sometimes. I explained the 4th of July celebration, and asked if they celebrated their country’s independence and how.

I hope you start getting good letters soon. Remember that your child is still a child, and likely a child with many obstacles in life. Shower them with love, and even if they never become as expressive as you want, they will blossom from it.

Talking about funny things people say. After I told someone that I was from Holland originally, I remember someone asking me if we had 4rth of July in Holland. I told him: “No, sir, we skip it and go right to the 5th!”

Julia, i also sponser a boy from Kenya and the same thing happens to me, his letters are always the same, I found it odd and it made me wonder if he was evan receiving my letters. The only thing I can think of is maybe that in their class the teacher will give them ideas of things to write about to the sponsers and they end up writing the same thing each time. It does bumm me out a bit, i wish i got more detailed letters from him

I lived in Zambia for a year in an orphanage sponsored by a Canadian organization. The kids I looked after prayed for their sponsors every night and talked endlessly about the few things they knew of them. However, when it came time to write them letters (something the children LOVED doing and looked forward to), the letters were always very dry and un-detailed. But that didn’t mean that they didn’t put 100% of their effort and love into writing them! To those of you who are feeling disappointed with your child’s letters, be encouraged that they do treasure your letters, but even more, they treasure YOU! They just can’t always communicate that very well.

I would not be concerned especially in the first few years with a very young child. Especially when the child relies on a tutor for help in writing. I believe that the child is truly thankful for the sponsorship but can’t imagine what the sponsor might want to know.

I try very hard to develop a relationship as you are doing by writing everyday stuff and asking questions. Often I do not get an answer to the questions probably because my letter has not been reviewed at the time of the child writing. I let the child know in letter after letter how much I love her (him) and how special she (he) is to Jesus and to me. Generally I start getting the heartfelt letters after the child begins to write their own letters.

Sometimes I believe that some children are just better communicators than others. But they all love to get the letters that you write and will respond to your love by feeling better about themselves and becoming confident of their own value. Sometimes I have to read between the lines.

On her 13th letter, Minakshi (India) (11 years old) wrote “Thank you for the very sweet letter. Uncle, I get strength through your letter.”
Hopefully one day you will get that one letter that expresses that. I hope this helps.

I’ve worked with the letters in the country office in Bolivia. You can be sure that the children get the letters and also that the children love to get the letters. These letters are very important to them.

Now, when it comes to writing letters, some of the children aren’t really that excited about it. That doesn’t mean they don’t love you, it’s just a totally foreign concept to them. It’s not part of their culture and they live in situations, where this can even be further from their own culture. So, it can be like homework was to us.

Also, the very younger children sometimes don’t really understand what a sponsor is and how that works. I remember Michelle Tolentino mentioning to me that before she was 7 years old, she didn’t know what a sponsor was, but she was part of the Compassion project.

When I sent a family gift recently to our Sherin in India, she wrote – in perfect English, I might add – that they bought a plastic table. It is a wonder, she wrote! They never thought they could have such a thing. Once again, I am humbled to be a part of Compassion and to be able to change a life in such a little way.

When I sent a family gift recently to our Sherin in India, she wrote – in perfect English, I might add – that they bought a plastic table. It is a wonder, she wrote! They never thought they could have such a thing. Once again, I am humbled to be a part of Compassion and to be able to change a life in such a little way.

I just started sponsoring, and about to send my second letter (once monthly is my goal), including some stickers and a math colouring/sticker book, and some photos from our recent vacation. My little girl is in South America, and I’m fluent in Spanish so can connect with her directly language-wise. I have loved reading these comments, especially about the dinosaurs. My little girl is 7, so I know she probably won’t understand or respond in a profound way. I’m quite nervous as to what to expect, but since reading about the table your family bought, Ruth, I know my sponsorship is the key right now, and I’m blessed to be a blessing as we all are.

At the school where I teach we saw a snake outside, so in a letter written around that time I mentioned it to Kintherlord and probably asked if she had ever seen them and/or if she liked them.
Her mom wrote to me, “No, she doesn’t like snake because it’s a very ugly animal.”

I live in a condo with a beautiful pond surrounded by willow trees, in Minnesota. The pond is a great place for wildlife. I enjoy taking pictures of the Canadian Geese that live here from March to October. I sent some of the pictures of them to my little Rina and she asked me, “Do you raise the geese to sell or for food?” God bless them all.

Ya only get the geese March to October? We can’t get rid of the silly things here in SE Michigan! It’s almost an infestation.

I am in SE Michigan also and I love the fact that we have geese all over. There are about 100 of them living in a lady’s back yard right alongside the Clinton River and we love seeing them every day and I applaud this woman for seeing that they’re taken care of.

Julia… mine is the same way. I never hear anything different. I often wonder if he gets my letters.

Sherry, I’m sure he gets your letters. I think it all depends a lot on which country the child is from. In some countries, they write 3 program letters and that is it. If this is the case, then he might take his letters home with him and then when he has to write the letters, he will just write what he is maybe told with the example on the board. Many children have difficulties writing the letters, so, someone from the project or a tutor will give instructions as to how to write the letters. They might write an example on the board. Some children just copy whatever is there and then they have written their letters. Maybe he might not look at your letters, when he writes these three program letters. Thus your questions might not get answered. It’s a good idea to number and underline questions. It tells the child and the staff at the student center that you would like an answer to these questions. But the greatest care is given to each of the letters.

Julie, my little boy, Mubarek, in Ethiopia does not write, but thru a translator. I have not heard since last December and was concerned about him. I phoned Compassion and they sent me info about a severe draught in the area in which he lives. There could be a reason why you have not heard, but it is dissappointing when you write and heardly ever receive a response or answers to your questions. Don’t stop writing or praying for your little one and neither will I.

When we visited a Child Development Center in Colombia recently, we got some really funny questions from the kids there:
“Do you watch TV in English?”
“Are all Americans blonde?” (I have brown hair, but I guess anything other than black is unusual there!)
When they found out that my husband had traveled to China, they all wanted to know what Chinese people eat:
“Do they eat dogs?” … and from one little boy, “Do they eat cockroaches?”

Actually, he’s right, they do eat many kinds of insects, including cockroaches, in parts of China. There are street vendors who sell scorpions cooked on skewers with about 12-20 scorpions per skewer, and they may eat dogs if they need the meat. In China, protein is extremely difficult to get – in certain areas, so almost every kind of grub or insect is fair game. In Korea, dogs are eaten, and in Los Angeles there has been a bit of an underground black market in dog meat. Every culture is different. In Burma they don’t eat beef because the cow does all the work for them, pulling plows and providing milk, etc. but they will eat other animals that we night not eat. Sounds like these kids know something about the outside world!

Fatuma from Uganda was telling me about the Christmas party at her Compassion center. She said, “It was a powerful party and very enjoyable.” My sister & I still use that phrase sometimes – “powerful party!” Fatuma usually does some math or explains some science definitions at the top of her letters. Those were always my worst subjects, so I tell her I’m impressed with how smart she is!

Mauricio, from Peru, ended one of his letters by saying, “I like to talk with you.” That made my day.

I have 2 little girls in Bangladesh. Last winter I received a letter from them and boy were they ever excited! It was written shortly after their Christmas party at their project and all they could talk about was CAKE!!! (not the gifts – but the CAKE!!) My one little granddaughter, Benoti, devoted her entire letter explaining about the Christmas cake they had and how wonderful it was. Then they both asked me, “have you ever eaten this wonderful food? Do you have it in your country?” (I live in SE Michigan) This made me both smile and feel sad at the same time. Before they had tried this new food, they had told me in an earlier letter that their favorite food was RICE!

I still laugh about this – I wrote one of my girls in Ecuador about the three tanks of fish that I have and something must have been lost in translation, because her response was, ‘aren’t you afraid to have an alligator for a pet?’ Looks like I need to improvement my penmanship if I am writing ‘fish’ and the translator is reading ‘alligator!’ LOL

Hello everyone!! I had a good time reading everyone’s comments. Children has a way of cracking us up with their innocent responses.

I enjoy receiving letters from my sponsored child in India which is pretty regular – about once a quarter. What’s bugging me though is the handwriting. It looks like it has been written by different individuals. I keep a year’s record of all my sponsored children’s letters. I noticed that the one from India has a different handwriting in some of her letters. Now, it makes me wonder if she’s the one writing it or someone else is writing it for her. The translator’s though is kind of consistent. She is 12 now and I believe she can write on her own.

I just hope and pray that everything written on the letters are true and that she’s really doing fine.

This past summer I wrote to Minakshi (12 years old, Delhi, India). I told her of the tornadoes in the Midwest and the Missouri river flood near our home in Council Bluffs, IA. I reassured her that we lived many miles from the tornado and that our home was on a hill and so was in no danger from flood water.

Her answer was heartwarming and the translation was endearing. Here are her words through the translation.

“I saw tornadoes of your country on the T.V. Right that time I prayed for you so you are burning light of the Lord that is on the high hill you staying.”

I received my first note from my 7 year old boy in Indonesia and was a little caught off guard when he said his favorite Bible story was “the crucifixion of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Should I worry or was something lost in translation there, too?

Maybe you were concerned because of the wording but to have someone think that Easter and the Resurrection for sins is his favourite story means he gets the meaning of being a Christian. Way to go little boy!

my sponsored child from indonesia told me in his recent letter he did not yet know the song “the age of stone”. i puzzled over that for a while and finally realized he meant “rock of ages”. probably a translation issue but it still makes me smile

At the end of one of her letters, my little girl Linda asked me to “Please pray for my brother so he will be an intelligent boy.” I don’t know if he was having trouble in school or was just being an irksome little brother! I was encouraged that she asked for prayer for someone other than herself.

My child in Ethiopia, Emembet, 16, Has a little sister who is developmentally delayed. They don”t always tell you these things. She was old enough to express herself in a way that I could understand. This is a possibility with this child. Sometimes you can get that kind of information from Compassion.

Its interesting to read all these comments about children. I insisted to my 6 year old that she needed to wash her hands before having her meals. She told me that Jesus wasnt doing the same every other time. she could remember that at one time, Jesus fed so many people and it wasnt recorded that He washed his hands!!

When my granddaughter (now 11) was 7 years old, I told her i love her more than anyone in the whole world. She said to me in an amazed voice “Even more than Jesus?! You CAN’T love anyone more than you love Jesus!” Out of the mouths of babes! It made my day to know how much she loves Jesus and at such a young age. We have a wonderful Christian home, so I know she will love Jesus for the rest of her life.

Some of my friends, who also sponsor children in Gojo, Ethiopia, and I have been comparing the contents of the letters we have received this week from our “Gojo kids”. My letter from 6 year old Elias was humorously different from the other children’s letters in one aspect. Where the other children listed their favorite song, Elias answered, “I cannot sing.” I admire his honesty:)

My 7 year old boy, Niyonsaba from Rwanda wrote me a letter and said: ” Thank you for the birthday gift you sent me, I bought myself a chicken”. Enclosed in the letter was a picture of him holding the chicken. Is that funny or what? It certainly made me laughed and smiled. I am so proud of him. In 2 and half months, I will see him in person. Yeah! So looking forward to seeing him. God bless him!

to the person who wrote that the letters from their sponsored child(ren) seem to be in a different handwriting each time. I receive letters like that some times, most of the time it is different translators translating the letters for you. If you look at the bottom of the letter the translators name or initials will be written there, usually it is a social worker in that particular project.

I’ve only received one letter from my sponsored child so far, but she said that I am in her pray, and I thought that was so nice! She also drew me a picture, but I have no idea what it is! In my next letter I just said, ‘thank you for the beautiful drawing’ but I feel guilty for not knowing what it was. It looks a bit like a Christmas light, or maybe a bowl of rice. Any ideas?

After meeting and spending the day with my sponsor child Adrian from Ecuador and exchanging gifts. I had also gave him a smaller backpack for his little brother Andy to take home for him. I asked Adrian what his most favorite memory of the day was. ” My gifts. I can’t wait to get home to see what Andy got. But my backpack is bigger!”

ok so like 2 years age my dad and i where 4-weeler rideing at my hose and i see him comeing down super fun and like im thinking’oh crap holly crap dont flip on me dont no no no!…..” and i musted of said that out loud and he looked at me funny!

I visisted my little boy in Rwanda last May 2012. He said something in Kinyarwanda which my translator laughed and then translated for me: “Your little boy said that in your pictures, you appeared tall, in person you are small”. My little boy covered his mouth trying not to laugh as it was translated to me. I laughed too and said “true, pictures can be so deceiving”.

Not only do I remember the Bill Cosby show, but I remember the original “Kids say the darndest things” with Art LInkletter!!! Now that is going back a ways. Anyway, we live in Kansas and one of our kids wrote and asked how far we had to travel to get to the nearest beach!! He loves going to the beach he said. He was amazed that there were no beaches in Kansas and couldn’t believe how far we had to travel to get to one.

It’s funny that this has become such a popular blog. But I wanted to point something out in that blog. The picture above is of my sponsored girl Jhoselin. (She calls me daddy. I’ve actually shown her this blog during a visit) Well, it’s difficult to see, but that picture was taken by another one of my sponsored children, who was sitting in my lap with my camera. We were on lake Titikaka, a huge lake between Bolivia and Peru. If you look very carefully in Jhoselin’s eyes, you will see that Shedenka is sitting in my lap, taking this picture. The photo here is a bit small, but on this link it is a bit bigger and you can see it better.

I had my 6 year practice his reading by reading a page from the booklet about our sponsored child. It read, “Miguell is responsible for gathering firewood and making beds”. My son stopped and exclaimed that it was horrible to have to do those things. I responded by telling him that he ought to do a bit of bed making himself. He replied with equal horror, “but I don’t even know any carpentry!!!”. Hahaha he took the making beds things literally since it followed the task of getting wood.

I received a letter from my little sister in the Philippines. I sent a picture of my family when my lil bro graduated from college. She said my mom was pretty sexy. That made me laugh. I never thought of anyone in my family as sexy. XD

We have a sponsored child in Thailand named Tewa and he said, “-as to singing and dancing(at the project), I hardly enjoy because I am bigger and rather fat. I feel ashamed of my friends-”
I don’t know if “ashamed” is translated differently, or what, because it rather insulting to his friends!
But him and the girl we sponsor (Piyanan) is so much fun and we love receiving their letters!

I know this is an older post but it made me think of when my corresondent child who is 9 sent me a letter telling me about his Christmas. He said they had gone out of town, and when they were heading home they ran out of fuel and they “had to be in the road for five years.” But then they fixed the car and arrived safe and sound lol. I’m sure it was supposed to mean hours, but it gave me a chuckle to read it as 5 years. :p

Our Compassion sponsored child, Ema, from Kenya (now 17) writes letters that are fairly formal, but I enjoy them all so much. The funny comment I received was actually from Sudip, our Gospel for Asia child. I had mentioned in a letter that my elderly mother had passed away. The next letter I received Sudip replied, “I am very sorry to learn of the death of your old mother.” I know my mom is in Heaven and she would have laughed at the wording as much as I did.